A caution to Great Britain and her colonies, in a short representation of the calamitous state of the enslaved Negroes in the British dominions. By Ant. Benezet

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A

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CAUTION

T O

GREAT BRITAIN

AND

Colonies,

A fliort Represen tat i o n of

The CALAMITOUS STATE of the

Enslaved

In the British Dominions.

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[ 3 ]

A T a time when the general rights and

of mankind, and the pre-
fcrvatjon 0f thofe valuable privileges
tranfmitted to us from our anceftors, are
become lo much the fubjedts of univerfal con-
fideration ; can it be an inquiry indifferent to
any, how many of thofe who diftinguifh
themfelves as the Advocates of Liberty, remain
infenlible and inattentive to the treatment of
thoufands and tens of thoufands of our fellow
men, who, from motives of avarice, and the
inexorable degree of tyrant cuftom, are at this
very time kept in the moffc deplorable ftate
of Slavery, in many parts of the Britifh
Dominions ?

The intent of publifhing the following
fheets, is more fully to make known the
aggravated iniquity attending the practice of
the Slave-Trade ; whereby many thoufands of
our fellow-creatures, as free as ourfelves by
nature, and equally with us the fubjedts of

A 2 Ch rift’s

[ 4 ]

Chrifl’s redeeming Grace, are yearly brought
into inextricable and barbarous bondage ; and
many, very many, to miferable and un¬
timely ends.

The Truth of this larpcntable Complaint is
fo obvious to perions of^candour, under w hofe
notice it hath fallen, that leveral have lately
publilhed their fentiments thereon, ar» a matter
which calls for the mod: ferioos confiderafion
of all who are concerned for the civil or re¬
ligious Welfare of their Country. How an
evil of fo deep a dye, hath fo long, not only
palled uninterrupted by thofe in Power, but
hath even had their Countenance, is indeed
furprifing, and charity would fuppofe, mult
in a great meafure have anlen from this, that
rnany perions in government, both of the
Clergy and Laity, in whofe power it hath been
to put a flop to the Trade, have faexn unac¬
quainted with the corrupt motives wnich gives
life to it ; and the groans, the dying groans,
which daily afeend to God, tne common
Father of mankind, from the broken hearts
of thofe his deeply opprefled creatures; other-
wile the powers of the earth would not, I
think I may venture to fay, could not, have
io long authorized a practice fo inconiiftent
with every idea of liberty andjuiiice, which,
as the learned James Fofier lays, Bids that
God, which is the God and Father oj the Gen¬
tiles, unconverted to Chnltxanity, moll dating

L >. . .. •. v* v . • t ana

[ 5 ]

and bold defiance ; and fpurm at all th prin¬
ciples both of natural and revealed Religion.

Much might juftly be faid of the temporal
evils which attend this practice, as it is de-
ffrudive of the welfare of human fociety, and
of the peace and profperity of every country,
in proportion as it prevails. It might be alfo
{hewn, that it deftroys the bonds of natural
affedion and intereft, whereby mankind in
general are united ; that it introduces idlenefs,
difcou rages marriage, corrupts the youth, ruins
and debauches morals, excites continual ap-
prehenfions of dangers, and frequent alarms
fo which the Whites are neceffanly expofed
from fo great an encreafe of a Pcopic, that,
by their Bondage and Oppreffions, become
natural enemies, yet, at the fame time are
falling the places and eating the bread of thofe
who would be the Support and Security of
the Country. But as thefe and many more
reflexions of the fame kind, may occur to a
confiderate mind, I fhall only endeavour to
{hew from the nature of the Trade, the
plenty which Guiney affords its inhabitants,
the barbarous Treatment of the Negroes, and
the Obfervations made thereon by Authors of
note, that it is inconfiftent with the plaineft
Precepts of the Gofpel, the didates of reaion,
and every common fentiment of Humanity.

In

[ 6 ]

an Account of the European Settlements
,rj ■ 'usierica, printed in London , *757, the
Author lpeaking on this Subject, fays : ‘ The
Negioes in our Colonies endure a Slavery

* more compleat and attended with far worfe

* circumftances than what any people in their

* condition luffer in any other part of the

* world, or have buffered in any other period
1 of time : Proofs of this are not wanting.

I he prodigious waite winch we experience
in this unhappy part of our Species, is a
4 full and melancholly Evidence of this Truth.
Trie Ifiand of Barba does (the Negroes upon
which do not amount to eighty thoufand)

* notwithftanding all the means which they
ufe to encreafe them by Propagation, and
that the Climate is in every reipebt (except

‘ that of being more wholfome) exactly re-
tembling the Climate from whence they
come ; noi.vv!thuandmg all this, Barbadoes
Ls.a under a neceffity oi an annual recuit of
4 five thoufand Haves, to keep up the flock at

4 the number I have mentioned. This Pro-

5 digious failure, which is at leaf! in the fame
4 proportion in all our Elands, (hews demon-

* ftratively that tome uncommon and unfup-
4 portable Hardfhip lies upon the Negroes,
4 which wears them down in fuch a furprifing
‘manner; and this, I imagine, is principally
‘ the exceffive labour which they undergo.’
In an Account of part of North - America,
published by Thomas Jeffery, printed 1761"

fpeaking

[ 7 ]

fpeaking of the ufage the Negroes receive in
the Weft-lndia I (lands, thus expreffes him-
felf : ‘ It’s impoffibie for a human heart to

c reded: upon the fervitude of thefe dregs of
c mankind, without in fome meafure feeling
c for their mifery, which ends but with their

e lives. - - Nothing can be more wretched

c than the condition of this People. One

* would imagine, they were framed to be
e the difgrace of the human fpecies, banilhed
e from their Country, and deprived of that
c bleffing Liberty, on which all other nations
c (et the greated value, they are in a manner
c reduced to the condition of beads of bur-
£ den : In general a few roots, potatoes
c efpecially, are their food, and two rags,
c which neither fcreen them from the heat
‘ of the day, nor the extraordinary coolnefs
c of the night, all their covering ; their deep
c very fhort ; their labour almod continual ;
c they receive no wages, but have twenty
c ladies for the (mailed fault.’

A confiderate young perfon who was late
in one of our Weft-lndia Iflands, where he
obferved the miferable fituation of the Ne¬
groes, makes the following remarks : ‘ I meet
‘ with daily exercife, to fee the treatment

* which thefe miferable wretches meet with
from their maders, with but few exceptions.

c They whip them mod unmercifully, on

* occafions $ they beat them with thick

f Clubs,

[ 3 ]

* Clubs, and you will fee their Bodies all
‘ whaled and fcarred : in fhort, they feem to
‘ let no other value on their lives than as they

* coft them fo much money ; and are not
‘ reftrained from killing them, when angry,

* by a worthier confideration than that they

* lofe fo much. They adt as tho’ they did

* not look upon them as a race cf human

* creatures, who have reafon, and remem-
‘ brance of misfortunes, but as beads, like
‘ oxen, who are dubborn, hardy and fenfe-

* lefs ; fit for burdens, and defigned to bear

* them. They won’t allow them to have any
1 claim to human privileges, or fcarce, indeed,

* to be regarded as the work of God. Tho’

‘ it was confident with the judice of our

* Maker to pronounce the fentence on our
‘ common parent, and through him on all
‘ fucceeding generations, That he and they
« Jljould eat their bread by the fweat of their

* brow j yet does it not ftand recorded by the
« fame Eternal Truth, 'That the Labourer is
‘ worthy of his Hire ? It cannot be allowed in

* natural judice, that there fhould be a fervi-
‘ tude without condition : A cruel endlefs
c fervitude. It cannot be reconcileable to na-
‘ tural judice, that whole nations, nay whole
« continents of men, fhould be devoted to do
« the drudgery of life for others, be dragged
c away from their attachments of relations
‘ and focieties, and made to ferve the appe-
« tites and pleafures of a race of men whole

‘ fuperiority

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c fuperiority has been obtained by an illegal
‘ force.’

4

A particular account of the treatment thefe
unhappy Africans receive in the (Veil- Indies
was lately pubiifhed, which even by thofe
who, blinded by intereft, leek excufes for the
Trade, and endeavour to palliate the cruelty
exercifed upon them, is allowed to be a true,
tho’ rather too favourable reprefentation of the
ufage they receive, which is as follows, viz.

‘ The iniquity of the Slave-trade is greatly
‘ aggravated by the inhumanity with which
£ the Negroes are treated in the Plantations,

' as well with refpedl to food and cloathing,

* as from the unreafonable labour which is
5 commonly exacted from them. To which

* may be added the cruel chaflifements they
‘ frequently fuffer, without any other bounds
£ than the will and wrath of their hard tafk-

* mailers. In Barbadoes , and i'ome other of

* the Wands, fix pints of Indian corn and
4 three herrings are reckoned a full week’s
c allowance for a working Have, and in the

* Syllem of Geography it is faid, That in Ja-
4 maica the owners of the Negroe-Jlaves, fet
‘ afide for each a parcel of ground , and allow
e them Sundays to manure it, the produce of
' which, with fometimes a few herrings, or
£ other falt-fifh, is all that is allowed for their

* fupport. Their allowance for cloathing in

* the Wands is feldom more than fix yards of

B ‘ ofenbrigs

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1 ofenbrigs each year: And in the more north-

* ern Colonies, where the piercing wederly
‘ winds are long and fenfibly felt, thefe poor
‘ -Africans buffer much for want of fufficient

cloathing, indeed fome have none till they
‘ are able to pay for it by their labour. The

* time that the Negroes work in the Wefl-
‘ Indies , is from day- break till noon ; then
‘ again from two o’ clock till dufk : (during

which time they are attended by overfeers,
c who feverely fcourge thofe who appear to
c them dilatory) and before they are buffered
‘ to go to their quarters, they have dill fome-

* tiring to do, as collecting of herbage for
‘ the horfes, gathering fuel for the boilers, &c.

‘ fo that it is often half pad twelve before
‘ they can get home, when they have fcarce
‘ time to grind and boil their Indian corn ;

‘ whereby it often happens that they are called
c again to labour before they can fatisfy their
‘ Hunger: and here no delay or excufe will
4 avail, for if they are not in the Field im-
‘ mediately upon the ufual notice, they muff
‘ expedf to feel the Overfeers Lafh. In crop-
‘ time (which lads many months) they are

* obliged (by turns) to work mod of the night
‘ in the boiling-houfe. Thus their Owners,

‘ from a deiire of making the greated gain
‘ by the labour of their Haves, lay heavy
‘ Burdens on them, and yet feed and clothe

* them very fparingly, and fome ftarce feed or
c clothe them at all, fo that the poor creatures

* are

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4 are obliged to flrift for their living in the
4 bed manner they can, which occafions their
4 being often killed in the neighbouring lands,

4 dealing potatoes, or other food, to fatisfy
4 their hunger. And if they take any thing
4 from the plantation they belong to, tho’

4 under fuch preffing want, their owners will
4 corredt them feverely, for taking a little of
4 what they have fo hardly laboured for,

4 whild they themfelves riot in the greated
4 luxury and excels. — It is a matter of ado-
4 nidrmenf, how a people who, as a nation,
4 are looked upon as generous and humane,
4 and fo much value themfelves for their
c uncommon fcnfe of the Benefit of Liberty,
4 can live in the pradice of fuch extreme op-
4 predion and inhumanity, without feeing the
4 inconfidency of fuch condud, and without
4 feeling great Remorfe : Nor is it lefs amazing
4 tohearthefe men calmly making calculations
4 about the drength and lives of their fellow-
4 men ; in 'Jamaica , if fix in ten, of the new
4 imported Negroes furvive the feafoning, it
4 is looked upon as a gaining purchafe : And
4 in mod of the other plantations, if the
4 Negroes live eight or nine years, their labour
4 is reckoned a l'ufficient compenlation for

4 their cod. - 'If calculations of this fort

4 were made upon the drength and labour of
4 beads of burden it would not appear fo
4 drange, but even then a merciful man would
4 certainly ufe his bead with more mercy than

o

4 is ufualiy (hewn to the poor Negroes. — Will
& not the groans of this deeply affiidled and
c opprefled people reach Heaven, and when
c the cup of iniquity is full, muft not the
inevitable confequence be pouring forth of
c the judgments of God upon their oppreffors.

4 But, alas! is it not too manifeft that this
c oppreiTion has already long been the object
/ of the divine difpleafure $ for what heavier
£ judgment, what greater calamity can befall
c any people, than to become a prey to that

* hardnels of heart, that forgetfulnefs of God,
4 and infenfibility to every religious impref-
4 fion-y as well as that general depravation of
1 manners, which fo much prevails in the
1 Colonies, in proportion as they have more or

* lefs enriched them'elves, at the expence of

4 the blood and bondage of the Negroes/

* .• ' \

The fituation of the Negroes in our South¬
ern provinces on the Continent, is alfo feel¬
ingly fet forth by George Whitefield , in a
Letter from Georgia , to the Inhabitants' of
Maryland , Virginia , North and South-Car olina^
printed in the Year 1739, of which the fol¬
lowing is an extradt : * As I lately pafled

4 through your provinces, in my way hither,

4 I was fenfibly touched with a fellow-feeling
4 of the miferies of the poor Negroes. Whc-
4 ther it be lawful for Chrijlians to buy Haves,
c and thereby encourage the Nations from
€ whom they are bought, to be at perpetual

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I

« war with each other, I (hall not take upon

* me to determine j fure I am, it is Hnful,

1 when bought, to ufe them as bad, nay worie
« than as tho’ they were brutes ; and what**

* ever particular exception there may be, (as
4 I would charitably hope there are fotme) I
4 fear the generality of you, that own Negroes,

4 are liable to fuch a charge ; for your Haves,

« I believe, work as hard, if not harder, than
4 the horfes whereon you ride : Thele, after
t they have done their work, are fed and
4 taken proper care of ; but many Negroes,

4 when wearied with labour, in your pianta-

* tions, have been obliged to grind then own
4 corn, after they return home. Your dogs
4 are careffed and fondled at your tables ; but
4 your Haves, who are frequently filled dogs

< or hearts, have not an equal privilege ; they
4 are fcarce permitted to pick up the crumbs
c which fall from their mafterts table. — Not
4 to mention what numbers have been given
4 up to the inhuman ufage of cruel tafk-
4 mafters, who, by their unrelenting fcouiges,

4 have ploughed their backs, and made long

< furrows, and at length brought tnern even
,£ to death. When parting along, I have view-

€ ed your plantations cleared and cultivated,
c many fpacious houles built, and the owners

* of them faring fumptuouily eveiy day,

4 blood has frequently almort run cold within

11 me, to conrtder how many of your Haves had

£ neither convenient fooG to cat, or proper
» - • ' c raiment

[ 1 4 ]

raiment to put on, notwithftanding moil; of

* f fie comforts you enjoy were folely owing to
‘ their indefatigable labours. — The Scripture

fays, Thou f halt not muzzle the ox that

* treadeth out the corn. Does God take care
for oxen ? and will he not take care of the

‘ Negroes alfo ? undoubtedly he will.— Go to
‘ n°w Ye r»ch men, weep and howl for your
miferies that fhall come upon you : Behold
tire provifion of the poor Negroes, who have
1 reaped down your fields, which is by you
denied them, cneth j and the cries of them
‘ which reaped, are entred into the ears of
e the Lord of Sabbath. We have a remark-
i able in fiance of God’s taking cognizance of,

1 and avenging the quarrel of poor Haves’
2 Sam. xxi. i. There was a famine in the
' days of David three years , year after year j
‘ and David enquired of the Lord : And the
4 Lord anjwered , It is for Saul, and for his

* bloody houfe , becaufe he flew the Gibeonites.
Two things are here very remarkable : Firft,
Thele Gibeonites were only hewers of wood
and drawers of water, or in other words,

‘ Haves like yours. Secondly, That this plague
‘ was fent by God many years after the injury,

* the caule of the plague, was committed.

* And for what end were this and fuch like
‘ examples recorded in holy Scriptures? with-
‘ out doubt, for our learning. — For God is the
£ fame to-day, as he was yefterday, and will
4 continue the fame for ever. He does not

4 rejedf

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I

c rejedt the prayer of the poor and deftitute *

. ‘ nor difregard the cry of the meaneft Negro.
‘ The blood of them fpiit for thefe many
c years in your refpedtive provinces will afeend
‘ up to heaven againft you.’

Some who have only feen Negroes in an
abjedt date of flavery, broken-fpirited and
dejedted, knowing nothing of their fituatioa
in their native country, may apprehend, that
they are naturally unfenfible of the benefits of
Liberty, being deftitute and miferable in every
refpedt, and that our fuffering them to live
amongft us (as the Gibeonites of old were
permitted to live with the Jfraclites) tho’ even
on more oppreffive terms, is to them a favour j
but thefe are certainly erroneous opinions,
‘ with refpedt to far the greateft part of them :
Altho’ it is highly probable that in a country'
which is more than three thoufand miles in
extent from north to fouth, and as much from
eaft to weft, there will be barren parts, and
many inhabitants more uncivilized and barba¬
rous than others •, as is the cafe in all other
countries : Yet, from the moft authentic
accounts, the inhabitants of Gurney appear,
generally fpeaking, to be an induftrious, hu¬
mane, fociable people, whofe capacities are
naturally as enlarged, and as open to improve¬
ment, as thofe of the Europeans ; and that
their Country is fruitful, and in many places
well improved, abounding in cattle, grain and

fruits :

[ 16 ]

fruits: And as the earth yields all the year
round a frefh fupply of food, and but little
cloathing is requifite, by reafon of the conti¬
nual warmth ot the climate; the neceflaries
of life are much eafier procured in mod: parts
of Africa , than in our more northern climes.
This is confirmed by many authors of note,
who have refided there; among others M.
Adanfon , in his account of Goree and Senegal ,
in the year 1754, fays, ‘ Which way foever
‘ I turned my eyes on this pleafant fpot, I
‘ beheld a perfedt image of pure nature ; an

* agreeable folitude, bounded on every fide by

* charming landfcapes, the rural fituation of
‘ cottages in the midft of trees ; the eafe and

* indolence of the Negroes reclined under the
c fhade of their fpreading foliage ; the fimpli-

* city of their drefs and manners; the whole

* revived in my mind the idea of our firft

* parents, and I feemed to contemplate the
' world in its primitive Hate : They are, gene-
‘ rally fpeaking, very good-natured, fociable
‘ and obliging. I was not a little pleafed with

* this my firft reception ; it convinced me,

* that there ought to be a confiderable abate-
' ment made in the accounts I had read and
‘ heard every where of the favags character of
£ the Africans. I obferved, both in Negroes

* and Moors, great humanity and fociablenefs,

* which gave me ftrong hopes, that I (hould
c be very fafe amongft them, and meet with

the

[ *7 1

1 the fuccefs I deli red, in my inquiries after
« the curiofities of the country.’

William Bofman , a principal Factor for the
Dutch, who redded iixteen years in Gurney,
fpeaking of the natives of that part, where he
then was, fays, ‘ They are generally a good
< fort of People, honeft in their dealings ;
others hedeferibes as ‘ being generally friendly
‘ to ftrangers, of a mild convention, affable
e and eafy to be overcome with reafon.’ He
adds, ‘ That fome Negroes, who have had
t an agreeable education, have manifefted a
c brightnefs of underftanding equal to any or
‘ us.’ Speaking of the fruitfulnefs of the
country, he fays, ‘ It was very populous,

* plentifully provided with corn, potatoes and
‘ fruit, which grew clofe to each other ; in
‘ fome places a foot-path is the only ground
‘ that is not covered with them ; the Negroes
5 leaving no place, which is thought fertile,

‘ uncultivated ; and immediately after they

* have reaped, they are fare to fow again/
Other parts he deferibes, as ‘ being full of
‘ towns and villages j the foil very rich, and
« fo well cultivated as to look like an entire
e garden, abounding in rice, corn, oxen and

* poultry, and the inhabitants laborious/

William Smith , who was fent by the Afri¬
can Company to vifit their fettlements on the
coaft of Guinsv, in the year 1726, gives much

C the

[ i8 j

the fame account of the country of Dclmina
and Cape Corje , &c. for beauty and goodnefs,
and adds, 4 The more you come downward
‘ towards that part, called Slave-Coaft, the
more delightful and rich the toil appears.7
Speaking or their ditpoiition, he fays, 4 They
‘ were a civil, good-natured people, induftri-
* ous t0 the laft degree. It is eafy to perceive
‘ w hat happy memories they are bleffed with,

‘ and how great progrefsthey would make in
the icicnces, in cate their genius was culti¬
vated with ftudy. He adds, from the
information he received of one of the Factors,
who had retided ten Years in that country :
That the discerning natives account it their
greatefl unhappinefs, that they were ever
‘ vifited by the Europeans. — ~ That the Chrif-
4 iians introduced the traffick of Slaves ; and
4 that before our coming they lived in peace.’

Andrew Brue, a principal man in the French
Fadory, in the account he gives of the great
river Senegal, which runs many hundred
miles up the country, tells his readers, 4 The
‘ farther you go from the Sea, the country on
4 the river feems more fruitful and well im-
4 proved. It abounds in Guiney and Indian
4 corn, rice, pulfe, tobacco, and indigo. Here
4 are vaft meadows, which feed large herds
4 of great and (mall cattle ; poultry are nume-
4 rous, as well as wild fowl.’ The fame
Author, in his travels to the fouth of the

liver

[ 19 ] f

river Gambia , exprefles his fur prize, ‘ to fee
£ che land fo well cultivated ; fcarce a fpot
‘ lay unimproved ; the low grounds, divided

* by final 1 canals, were all lowed with rice ;

« the higher ground planted with Indian corn,

* millet, and peas of different forts : beef and
‘ mutton very cheap, as well as all othet ne-

* ceflaries of life.’ The account this Author
gives of the difpofition of the natives, is,

‘ That they are generally good-natured and
‘ civil, and may be brought to any thing by
‘ fair and loft means.’ Art us, lpeaking or the
fame people, fays, ‘ They are a fincere, in-
‘ offenlive people, and do no injuitice eithet
‘ to one another or Grangers.’

From theft Accounts, both of the good
Difpofition of the Natives, and the Fruitful-
nets of mod parts of Guiney, which are con¬
firmed by many other Authors, it may well
be concluded, that their acquaintance with
the Europeans would have been a happinefs
to them, had thole lafl not only bore the
name, but indeed been influenced by the
Spirit of Chriftianity ; but, alas ! how hath
the Conduct of the Whites contradicted the
Precepts and Example of Thrift ? In dean
of promoting the End of his Coming, by
preaching the Gofpel of Peace and Good-will
to Man, they have, by their practices, con¬
tributed to enflame every noxious paffion of
corrupt nature in the Negroes ; they have in¬
cited them to make war one upon another,

C 2 and

y

[ 20 ]

and for this purpofe have furn idled them
iritb, piodigious quantities of ammunition and
whereby they have been hurried into
confufion, bloodflied, and all the extremities
oi temporal miiery, which mud neceffajily

^cSet minds fuch a general detefta-

tion and fcorn of the Chriftian name, as may
deeply affedt, if not wholly preclude their
belief of the great Truths of our holy Reli¬
gion. Thus an infatiable defire of gain hath
become the principal and moving caufe of
tne molt abominable and dreadful fcene, that
was perhaps ever adted upon the face of the
eartii ; even the power of their Kings hath
been made luofervient to anfwer this wicked
purpofe, mdead of being Protedfors of their
people, tnefe Rulers, allured by the tempt¬
ing bait laid before them by the European
iH accors, &c. have invaded the Liberties of
their unnappy fubjedts, and are become their
Oppreffors.

Divers accounts have already appeared in
print, declarative of the fhocking wickednefs
with which this Trade is carried on ; thefe
may not have fallen into the hands of fome
of my readers, I fhall, therefore, for their in¬
formation, feledt a few of the mod remark¬
able indances that I have met with, fhewing
the method by which the Trade is commonly
managed all along the African coad.

Francis

C 21 3

Francis Moor, Fadtor to the African Com¬
pany on the river Gambia , relates, ‘ That
4 when the King of Barfalli wants goods, &c.

4 he fends a meflenger to the Englijh Governor
‘ at fames' % Fort, to defire he would fend up
f a floop with a cargo of goods ; whifh (fays
£ the author) the Governor never fails to do :

* Againft the time the velfel arrives, the King
4 plunders fome of his enemies towns, felling
‘ the people for fuch goods as he wants. — •

4 If he is not at war with any neighbouring
‘ King, he falls upon one of his own towns,

‘ and makes bold to fell his own miferable

* fubjedts.’

N. Brue, in his account of the Trade, &c.
writes, ‘ That having received a quantity of
goods, he wrote to the King of the country,

4 That if he had a fufficient number of flaves,
‘ he was ready to trade with him. This

5 Prince (fays that author) as well as other
4 Negroe Monarchs, has always a fure way

* of fupplying his deficiencies by felling his
4 own fubjedts. — The King had recourfe to
4 this method, by feizing three hundred of
4 his own people, and fent word to Brue ,
4 that he had the flaves ready to deliver for
4 the goods.’

The Mifery and Bloodfhed, confequent of
the Slave-trade, is amply fet forth by the fol¬
lowing extradts of two voyages to the coafl
- ' of

bim

[ 22 ]

of Guiney for ilaves. The fir ft in a veffel from
Liverpool, taken verbatim from the original
manulcript of the Surgeon’s journal, viz.

* Sestro, December the 29th, 1724. No
' trade to-day, though many Traders come

on board ; they inform us, that the people

* are gone to war within land, and will bring
prifoners enough in two or three days ; in

5 hopes of which we ftay.

5 The 30th. No trade yet, but our Traders
came on board to-day, and informed us,
the people had burnt four towns of their
e enemies, fo that to-morrow we expeft flaves
e off. Another large fhip is come in : Yefter-

* day came in a large Londoner.

5 The 31ft. Fair weather, but no trade

* yet : We fee each night towns burning ;
‘ but we hear the Seftro men are many of
‘ them killed by the inland Negroes, fo that
‘ we fear this war will be unfuccefsful.

* The 2d January. Laft night we faw a
‘ prodigious fire break out about eleven o’
s clock, and this morning fee the town of
1 Seftro burnt down to the ground, (it con-

* tained fome hundreds of houfes) fo that we

* find their enemies are too hard for them at
orefent, and confequently our trade fpoiled

fo that about feven o’ clock we

weigh’d

t 23 ]

c weigh’d anchor, as did likewife the three
1 other veffels to proceed lower down/

■ The fecond relation, alfo taken from the
original manufcript journal of a perfon of
credit, who went Surgeon on the fame ac¬
count in a veffel from New-Tork to the coaft
of Gtiiney , about nineteen years paft, is as
follows, vi

c Being on the coaft at a place called

* Bafalia, the Commander of the veffel, ac-
c cording to cuftora, fent a perfon on fhore
e with a prefent to the King, acquainting
c him with his arrival, and letting him know,

{ they tvanted a cargo of flaves. The King

* promifed to furnifh them with flaves ; and
c in order to do it, fet out to go to war againft
c his enemies, designing alfo to furprize fome

* town, and take all the people prifoners :

f Some time after, the King fent them word,

r he had not yet met with the defired fuccefs,

c having been twice repulfed, in attempting

‘ to break up two towns ; but that he flifS

‘ hoped to procure a number of flaves for

1 them ; and in this delign he perfifled till

c he met his enemies in the field, where a

‘ battle was fought, which lafted three days ;

‘ during which time the engagement was fo

‘ bloody, that four thoufand five hundred

1 men were flain on the fpot/ The perfon,

that wrote the account, beheld the bodies as

they

■+

I

[ *4 ]

they lay on the field of battle. ‘ Think (fays
‘ he in his journal) what a pitiable fight it was,

* to fee the widows weeping over their loft
‘ hufbands, orphans deploring the lofs of their

* fathers, &c. &c.’

Thofe, who are acquainted with the Trade,
agree, that many Negroes on the fea-coaft,
who have been corrupted by their intercourfe
and converfe with the European Fadtors, have
learnt to flick at no adt of cruelty for gain.
Thefe make it a pradlice to deal abundance
of little Blacks of both fexes, when found on
the roads or in the fields, where their parents
keep them all day to watch the corn, &c.
Some authors fay, the Negroe Fadtors go fix
or feven hundred miles up the country with
goods, bought from the Europeans , where
markets of men are kept in the fame manner
as thofe of beafts with us ; when the poor
flaves, whether brought from far or near,
come to the fea-fhore, they are ftripped
naked, and ftridtly examined by the European
Surgeons, both men and women, without
the lead diftindlion or modefty ; thofe which
are approved as good, are marked with a red-
hot iron wuth the fb i p’s mark ; after which
they are put on board the veflels, the men
being fhackled with irons two and two to¬
gether. Reader, bring the matter home,
and confider whether any fituation in life can

be more completely miferable than that of

thofe

[ 2$ ]

thofe diftrefted captives. When we rerledi,
that each individual of this number had fome
tender attachment which was broken by this
cruel feparation ; fome parent or wife, who
had not an opportunity of mingling tears in
a parting embrace ; perhaps fome infant or
aged parent whom his labour was to feed
and vigilance proted ; themfelves under the
dreadful apprehenfion of an unknown perpe¬
tual flavery ; pent up within the narrow
confines of a veflel, fometimes fix or feven
hundred together, where they lie as dole as
poflible. Under thefe complicated diftreffes
they are often reduced to a ftate of defpera-
tion, wherein many have leaped into the fea,
and have kept themfelves under water till
they were drowned ; others have ftarved
themfelves to death, for the prevention
whereof fome mafters of veffels have cut off”
the legs and arms of a number of thofe poor
defperate creatures, to terrify the reft. Great
numbers have alio frequently been killed,
and fome deliberately put to death under the
greateft torture, when they have attempted
to rile, in order to free themfelves from
their prefent mifery, and the flavery defigned
them. An inftance of the laft kind appears
particularly in an account given by the
maker of a veflel, who brought a cargo of
(laves to Barbadoes ; indeed it appears fo
irreconcilable to the common dictates of
humanity, that one would doubt the truth

D of

[ 26 ] .

of it, had it not been related by a ferious
perfon of undoubted credit, who had it from
the captain’s own mouth. Upon an inquiry.
What had been the fuccefs of his voyage ?
lie anfwered, c That he had found it a diffi-
4 cult matter to fet the negroes a fighting
c with each other, in order to procure the
c number he wanted ; but that when he had
c obtained this end, and had got his veflel
1 filled with ilaves, a new difficulty arofe
‘ from their refufa! to take food ; thofe de~
f fperate creatures chufing rather to die with
4 hunger, than to be carried from their native

* country.’ Upon a farther inquiry, by what
means he had prevailed upon them to fore¬
go this delperate refolution ? he anfwered,

* That he obliged all the negroes to come

* upon deck, where they perfifting in their
c refolution of not taking food, he caufed his
c Tailors to lay hold upon one of the moft
c obftinate, and chopt the poor creature into
c fmall pieces, forcing fome of the others to
c eat a part of the mangled body ; withal

* (wearing to the furvivors, that he would ufe
4 them all, one after the other, in the fame
‘ manner, if they did not confent to eat.’
This horrid execution he applauded as a good
ad, it having had the defired effed, in bring¬
ing them to take food.

A fimilar cafe is mentioned in A (l ley ’s
Collection of Voyages, by John Atkins , Sur¬
geon

[ 27 ]

geon on board Admiral Ogle s fqtiadron, ‘ Of
1 one Harding, mafter of a veflel, in wrnch
‘ feveral of the men-daves, and a woman-
‘ Have, had attempted to rife, in order to

* recover their liberty ; fome of whom the
‘ mafter, of his own authority, (entenced to
‘ cruel death ; making them firft eat the
‘ heart and liver of one of thofe he killed.

* The woman he hoifted by the thumbs ;
e whipped and flafhed with knives before the
1 other (laves, till (he died.’

As deteftable and (hocking as this may
appear to fucb, whofe hearts are not yet hard¬
ened by the pra&ice of that cruelty, which
the love of wealth, by degrees, introduced!
into the human mind; it will not be ((range
to thofe who have been concerned or employ¬
ed in the Trade. Now here arifes a necefl'ary
query to thofe who hold the ballance and
1 word of juftice; and who muft account to
God for the ufe they have made of it. Since
our Englifh law is jo truly valuable for its
juftice , how can they overlook the(e barbarous
deaths of the unhappy Africans without trial,
or due proof of their being guilty, of crimes
adequate to their punifhment ? Why are thofe
mafters of vefielo (who are often not the mod
tender and conliderate of men) thus fuffered
to be the fovereign arbiters of the lives of the
miferable Negroes ; and allowed, with impu¬
nity, thus to dcftrov, may I not fay, murder

/

[ £8 ]

their fellow-creatures, and that by means fo
cruel as cannot be even related but with
fhame and horror ?

When the veffels arrive at their deftined
port in the Colonies, the poor Negroes are to
be difpofed of to the planters ; and here they
are again expofed naked, without any diftinc-
tion of iexes, to the brutal examination of
their purchafers ; and this, it may well be
judged is to many of them another occafion
of deep diftrefs, efpecially to the females :
Add to this, that near connections muff now
again be feparated, to go with their feveral
purchafers : In this melancholy lcene Mothers
are feen hanging over their Daughters, be¬
dewing their naked breads with tears, and
Daughters clinging to their Parents not
knowing what new ftage of diftrefs mutt
follow their feparation ; or if ever they fhall
meet again : And here what fympathy, what
commiferation are they to expeCt ? why in¬
deed, if they will not feparate as readily as
their owners think proper, the whipper is
cafled for, and the lafh exercifed upon their
naked bodies, till obliged to part.

Can any human heart, that retains a fellow-
feeling for the Sufferings of mankind, be
unconcerned at relations of fuch grievous af¬
fliction, to which this opprefled part of our
Species are fubjeCted : God gave to man

dominion

t- . *'« • it

[ 29 1

dominion over the fifh of the fea, and over
the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, &c.
but impofed no involuntary lubjedion of one
man to another.

The Truth of this Pofition has of late
been clearly fet forth by perfons of reputation
and ability, particularly George Wallis., in his
Syftem of the Laws of Scotland, whofe fenti-
ments are fo worthy the notice of all con-
fiderate perfons, that I fhall here repeat a part
of what he has not long fince publilhed,
concerning the African Trade, viz. 4 If this
‘ Trade admits of a moral or a rational jufti-
« fication, every crime, even the moft attro-
‘ cious, may be juftified : Government was
‘ inftituted for the good of mankind. Kings,

4 Princes, Governors, are not proprietors of
4 thofe who are fubjeded to their authority,

» they have not a right to make them mi-
< ferable. On the contrary, their authority is
‘ veiled in them, that they may by the juft
4 exercife of it, promote the Happinefs of
4 their people : Of courfe, they have not a
4 right to difpofe of their Liberty, and to fell
4 them for llaves : Befides, no man has a
4 right to acquire or to purchafe them ; men
4 and their Liberty, are not either faleable or
4 purchafeable : One therefore has no body
4 but himfelf to blame, in cafe he lhall
4 find himfelf deprived of a man, whom he
4 thought he had, by buying for a price,

4 made

[ 3° ]

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made his own ; for he dealt in a Trade
wn;cn was illicit, and was 'prohibited by
<? moft obvious didates of humanity. For

tllefe rea[ons> every one of thofe unfortunate
men who are pretended to be Haves, has
a right to be declared free, for he never
lUt ins Liberty, he could not lofe it ; hjs
i'nnce had no power to difpofe of him :
of courfe the faie was void. This rfoht
he carries about with him, and is entitled
every where to get it declared. As foon,
therefore, as he comes into a country, in
which the Judges are not forgetful of 'their
own humanity, it is their duty to remember
that he is a man, and to declare him to be
free. — This is the Law of Nature, which
is obligatory on all men, at all times, and
m all places. — Would not any of us, who
fhould bp fnatched by Pirates from his
native land, think himfelf cruelly abufed,
and at all times intitled to be free ? Have
not thefe unfortunate Africans , who meet
\ v nli the fame ciuel fate, the fame right ?
are not they men as well as we ? and have
they not the fame fenfibility ? Let us not,
therefore, defend or fupport a ufage, which
is contrary to all the Laws of Humanity.’

Francis Hutchinfon, alfo in his Syftem of
Moral Philofophy, fpeaking on thefubjedof
Slavery, fays, ‘ He who detains another by
foicc in fiavery, is always bound to prove

* his

I 3* 1

4 his title. The Slave fold or carried away
‘ into a diftant country, mu ft not be obliged

* to prove a negative, that he never forfeited

* his Liberty. The violent pofieflor muft, in

* all cales, fhew his title, efpecially where the

* old proprietor is well known. In this cafe

* each man is the original proprietor of his
‘ own Liberty : The proof of his lofing it

* muft: be incumbent on thofe, who deprived
‘ him of it by force. Strange, (fays the fame
‘ author) that in any nation, where a fenfe of
‘ Liberty prevails, where the Chriftian religion
‘ is profeifed, cuftom and high profpedt of
‘ gain can fo ftupify the conferences of men,

* and all fenfe of natural juftice, that they can

* hear fuch computation made about the value

* of their fellow-men and their Liberty, with-
4 out abhorrence and indignation.’

The noted Baron Montefquieu gives it, as
his opinion, in his Spirit of Law, page 3483
‘ That nothing more afiimilates a man to a
‘ beaft than living amongft freemen, himfelf
‘ a flave ; fuch people as thefe are the natural!
‘ enemies of fociety, and their number muft

* always be dangerous.’

The Author of a pamphlet, lately printed
in London, entituled, An Ejfay in Vindication
of the continental Colonics oj America, writes,

‘ That the bondage we have impoied on tire
‘ Africans , is absolutely repugnant to juftice.

'‘That

[ 32 ]

‘ That it is highly inconfiftent with civil
‘ Policy : f'i'ft, as it tends to fupprefs all im_
provements in arts and fciences ; without
‘ which it is morally impoflible that any
i nation {hould be happy or powerful. Se-
‘ condly, as it may deprave the minds of the
‘ freemen ; Healing their hearts againft the
‘ laudable feelings of virtue and humanity.
‘ And, laftly, as it endangers the community
‘ by the deftrudtive effedts of civil commo-

* tions, need I add to thefe (lays that author)

* what every heart, which is not callous to
4 all tender feelings, will readily fuggeft ; that
4 it is fhocking to humanity, violative of every
4 generous fentiment, abhorrent utterly from
4 the Chrijlian Religion : for as Montefquieu
4 very juftly obferves, We 711u.fl fuppofe them
4 not to be men , or a Jufpicion 'would follow that
4 we ourfehes are not Chriftians. • — : — . There
4 cannot be a more dangerous maxim, than
4 that neceflity is a plea for injuftice. For
‘ who fhall fix the degree of this neceflity ?
4 What villain fo atrocious, who may not
4 urge this excufe ? or, as Milton has happly
4 expreffed it,

« - - ylr.d with mcefjity

4 "The tyrant's pleay excuje his dev i if deed.

4 That our Colonies want people, is a very
4 weak argument for fo inhuman a violation
4 of juftice. - — Shall a civilized, a Chrijlian
4 nation encourage Slavery, becaufe the bar-

4 barous

t

[ 33 ]

‘ barous, favage, lawlefs African hath done
‘ it ? M onftrous thought ! To what end do

* we profels a religion whofe dictates we fj
6 flagrantly violate ? Wherefore have we that
4 pattern of goodnefs and humanity, if we
c refufe to follow it ? How long (Tall we

* continue a pradtice, which policy rejedfs,
c juftice condemns, and piety diffuades ? Shall
c the Americans peril ft in a conduit, which
€ cannot be juftified ; or perfevere in oppref-
‘ fion from which their hearts mull recoil ?
c If the barbarous Africans (hall continue to
c enflave each other, let the daemon llaverv

* remain among them, that their crime may

* include its own punifhment. Let not Chri-
‘ Ilians , by adminiftring to their wickednefs,

£ confefs their religion to be a ufelefs rsfine-
‘ ment, their profellion vain, and themfelves
‘ as inhuman as the lavages they deteft.’

James Fofter, in his Difcourfes on Natural
Religion and Social Virtue , aifo thews his juft
indignation at this wicked pradfice, which he
declares to be a criminal and outragious viola¬
tion of the natural right of mankind. At page
i^6, 2 vol. he fays, ‘ Should we have read
‘ concerniT>°: the Greeks or Romans of old, that
c they traded, with view to make (laves of
c their own fpecies, whom they certainly
‘ knew that this would involve in fchemes of
6 blood and murder, of deftroying or enllaving
- K each other, that they even fomented wars,

E ■ and

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[ 34 ]

and engaged whole nations and tribes in open
hoftilities, for their own private advantage ;
that they had no detedation of the violence
and cruelty ; but only feared the ill fuccefs
of their inhuman enterprifes ; that they
carried men like themfelves, their brethren,
and the offspring of the fame common
parent, to be fold like beads of prey, or
beads of burden, and put them to the fame
reproachful trial of their foundnefs, drength
and capacity for greater bodily fervice ; that
quite forgetting and renouncing the original
dignity of human nature, communicated
to all, they treated them with more feverity
and ruder difcipline, than even the ox or
the afs, who are void of underftanding.-—
Should we not, if this had been the cafe,
have naturally been led to del pile ail their
oretended refinements of morality ; and to
lave concluded, that as they were not
nations deditute of politenefs, they mull-
have been entire Strangers to Virtue and
Benevolence ?

c But., notwithdanding this, we ourfdves
c (who profefs to be Chrifhans , and bead of
4 the peculiar advantage we enjoy, by means
c of an exprefs revelation or our duty from
< Heaven) are in effedt, thefc very untaught
€ and rude Heathen countries. VVitii a!! out
4 fuperior light, we inftii into thofe, whom

1 we call favacre and barbarous, toe molt

‘ defpicable

[ 35 ]

‘ defpicable opinion of human nature. We,

* K3 the utmoft of our power, weaken and
‘ diffoive the univerfal tie, that binds and
‘ unites mankind. We pradice what we
‘ /liquid exclaim againft:, as the utmoft: excefs

* of cruelty and tyranny, if nations of the
‘ world, differing in colour and form of
‘ government from ourfelves, were fo poffefl-
‘ ed of empire, as to be able to reduce us to

* a ftate of unmerited and brut iff fervitude.
c Of confequence, we facrifice our reafon, our

* humanity, our Christianity, to an unnatural

* fordid gain. We teach other nations to
‘ defpife and trample under foot, all the obli-
e gations of focial virtue. We take the mod
‘ effedual method to prevent the propagation
‘ of the Gofpel by reprefenting it as a icheme
c of power and barbarous oppreffion, and an

* enemy to the natural privileges and rights
‘ of men.

* Perhaps all, that I have now offered, may
f be of very little weight to reftrain this enor-
4 mity, this aggravated iniquity. Plowever,

‘ I ffall Hill have the fatisfadion, of having
c entered my private proteft againft a pradice
‘ which, in my opinion, bids that God , ‘who
‘ is the God and Father of the Gentiles, uncon-
‘ verted to Chriftianity, mojl daring and bold
f defiance, and f pur ns at all the principles , both
1 oj natural and revealed Religion.'

E 2 How

n«op

[ 36 j

How the Bntifh nation ftrft came to be

concerned in a practice, by which the rights
and liberties of mankind are To violently in-
ringed, and which is fo oppofite to the ap-
prehenfions EngHfhmen have always had of
what natural juftice requires, is indeed fur-
prifing. It was about the year 1563;, in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth , that the Englijh
ftrft engaged in the Gunny Trade ; when it
appears, from an account in Hill’s Naval

J liftory, page 293, That when Captain Haw¬
kins returned from his ftrft voyage to Africa^
that generous fpirited Princefs, attentive to the
intereft of her fubjedls, fent for the Comman¬
der, to whom flie exprefted her concern left
any of the Hfrican Negroes fhould be carried
off without their free con fent, declaring it
would be detejlable , and call down the vengeance
of Heaven upon the undertakers . Captain

- _ -*■ i

Hawkins promifed to comply with the
Queen’s injunclion : neverthelefs, we find in
il c account, given in the fame Hiftory, of
Hawkins s lecond voyage, the author ufing
thefe remarkable words. Here be? an the horrid
practice oj forcing the Africans into Jlavery .

Labut , a Roman Miffionary, in his account
oi the Ifles of America , at page 114, of the
4th vol. mentions, that Lewis the 13th,
Father to the prelent French King’s Grand¬
father, was extremely unealy at a Law by
which all the Negroes of his Colonies were

to

[ 37 3

to be made (laves ; but it being flrongly
urged to him, as the readied means for
their Converfion to Chriflianity , he acquiefced
therewith.

And altho’ we have not many accounts
of the irnpreffions which this piratical inva¬
lid! of the rights of mankind, gave to ferious
minded people, when firft engaged in ; yet
it did not efcape the notice of fome, who
might be efteemed in a peculiar manner as
watchmen in their day to the different focie-
ties of Chriftians , whereunto they belonged.
Richard Baxter, an eminent preacher amongft
the Nonconformids , in the lad: century, well
known and particularly efteemed by mod
of the ferious Prejbyterians and Independents,
in his Chriflian Directory moftly, wrote about
an bund ed Years ago, fully fhews his deteft-
ation of this pradfice in the following words :
‘ Do you not mark how God hath followed
‘ you with plagues ? And may not confcience

* tell you, that it is for your inhumanity to
‘ the fouls and bodies of men ? — To go as
‘ pirates and catch up poor Negroes, or people
‘ of another land, that never forfeited Life

* or Liberty, and to make them Slaves and
‘ fell them, is one of the word: kind of
‘ Thievery in the world ; and fuch perfons
‘ are to be taken for the common Enemies
‘ of mankind ; and they that buy them, and
e ufe them as beads, for their meer com-

' modify.

modity, and betray, or deftroy, or negledl
their fouls, are fitter to be called devils than
Chrifiians . It is an heinous fin to buy them,

unlds it be in charitv to deliver them. . .

c Undoubtedly they are prefently bound to
c deliver them ; becaufe by right the man is

* his own ; therefore no man elfe can have

* a juft title to him.’

We alfo find George Fox, a man of exem¬
plary piety, who was the principal inftrument
in gathering the religious fociety of people
called ^takers, expreffing his concern and
fellow-feeling for the bondage of the Negroes :
In a difeoarfe taken from his mouth, in
Barbadoes , in the Year 1671, fays, ‘ Confi-

* der with yourfelves, if you were in the fame
c condition as the Blacks are, - — who came

* ftrangers to you, and were fold to you as

* flaves. I fay, if this fftould he the condition
‘ of you or yours, you would think it hard
‘ tneafure : Yea, and very great bondage and

* cruelty. And, therefore, confider ferioufly

* of this, and do you for and to them, as

* you would willingly have them, or any

* other to do unto you, were you in the like

* flavifh condition ; and bring them to know
‘ the Lord Chrift.’ And in his journal, page
‘431, fpeaking of the Advice lie gave his
‘ friends at Barbadoes, he fays, ‘ I defired aifo,

* that they would caufe their Overfeers to deal
mildly and gently with their Negroes, and

‘ not

C

/

[ 39 ]

* not to ufe cruelty towards them, as the
manner of fome had been ; and that arter

‘ certain years of fervitude they lliould make

i them free.’

In a book printed in Liverpool, called The
Liverpool Memorandum-book, which contains,
among other things, an account of the Trade
of that port, there is an exadt lift of the
veffels employed in the Gainey Trade, and
of the number of Slaves imported in each
veffel, by which it appears, that in the year
175 3, the number imported to America, by
veffels belonging to that port, amounted to
upwards of Thirty Thoufand ; and from the
number of Veffels employed by the African
Company in London and Briftof we may,
with fome degree of certainty conclude, there
is, at lead, One Hundred Thoufand Negroes
purchafed and brought on board c v drips
yearly from the coaffc of Africa , on their
account : This is confirmed in Anderfon ’ $
Hiftory of Trade and Commerce, printed in
1 764, where it is faid, at page 68 of the
Appendix, c That England fupplies her Ame-

* rican Colonies with Negro-iiaves, amount-
‘ ing in number to above One Hundred
‘ Thoufand every year.’ When the veffels
are full freighted with haves, they let out for
our plantations in America , and may be two
or three months on the voyage, during
which time, from the filth and flench that is

among

[ 4° ]

among them, diftempers frequently break out,
which carry off a great many, a fifth, a fourth,
yea fometimes a third of them ; fo that taking
all the flaves together that are brought on
board our (hips yearly, one may reafonably
fuppofe, that at leaft ten thoufand of them die
on the voyage. And in a printed account of
the State of the Negroes in our plantations, it
is fuppofed that a fourth part, more or lefs,
die at the different Iflands, in what is called
the feafoning. Hence it may be prefumed,
that, at a moderate computation of the flaves,
who are purchafed by our African merchants
in a year, near thirty thoufand die upon the
voyage and in the feafoning. Add to this, the
prodigious number who are killed in the
incurlions and inteftine wars, by which the
Negroes procure the number of flaves wanted
to load the veflels : How dreadful then is this
Slave-Trade, whereby fo many thoufands of
our fellow-creatures, free by nature, endued
with the fame rational faculties, and called to
be heirs of the fame falvation with us, lofe
their lives, and are truly, and properly fpeak-
ing, murdered every year ! For it is not
neceflary, in order to convidt a man of
murder, to make it appear, that he had an
intention to commit murder. Whoever does,
by unjuft force or violence, deprive another of
his Liberty ; and, while he has him in his
power, reduces him, by cruel treatment, to
fueh a condition as evidently endangers his

life.

[ 41 3

life, and the event occafions his death, is
actually guilty of murder. It is no lefs (hock¬
ing to read the accounts given by Sir Hans
Sloan, and others, of the inhuman and un¬
merciful treatment thofe Blacks meet with,
who furvive the feafoningin the Iflands, often
for tranfgreffions, to which the punifhment
they receive bears no proportion. ‘ And the

* horrid executions, which are frequently

* made there upon difcovery of the plots laid

* by the Blacks, for the recovery of their liber—

/ < ty ; of fome they break the bones, whilft

« alive, on a wheel ; others they burn or rather
« roaft to death ; others they ftarve to death,

< with a loaf hanging before their mouths.’
Thus they are brought to expire, with fright¬
ful agonies, in the moll horrid tortures. For
negligence only they are unmercifully whip¬
ped, till their backs are raw, and then pepper
and fait is fcattered on the wounds to heighten
the pain and prevent mortification. Is it not
a caufe of much forrow and lamentation, that
fo many poor creatures fhould be thus rack’d
with excruciating tortures, for crimes which
often their tormentors have occafioned : Mult
not even the common feelings of human
nature have fuffered fome grievous change in
thofe men, to be capable of inch horrid
cruelty, towards their fellow-men ? It they
deferve death, ought not their judges, in the
death decreed them, always to remember that

F * thefe

[ 42 ]

thefe their haplefs fellow-creatures are men,
and themfelves profeffing Chriflians ? The
Mo fate law teaches us our duty in thefe cafes,
in the merciful provifion it made in the pu-
nifhment of tranfgreilors, Deuter. xxv. 2.
Find it Jhall bey if the wicked man he worthy
to: be beaten , that the judge Jhall caufe him to
he down , and to be beaten before his face , ac¬
cording to his fault , by a certain number ;
Forty ftripes be may give him , and not exceed \
And the reafon rendered is out of refped to
human nature, viz. Left if he fkould exceed,
and beat him above thefe , with many ftripes ,
then thy Brother ftmild feem vile unto thee .
Britons boa ft themfelves to be a generous,
humane people, who have a true fenie of the
importance of Liberty ; but is this a true
character, whilft that barbarous, lavage Slave-
1 rade, with all its attendant horrors, receives
countenance and protedion from the Legiila-
ture, whereby fo many Thoufand lives are
yearly facrificed ? Do we indeed believe the
truths declared in the Gofpel ? Are we per-
fuaded that the threatnings, as well as the
promifes therein contained, will have their
accomphfhment ? If indeed we do, muft we
not tremble to think what a load of guilt lies
upon our Nation generally and individually,
fo far as we in any degree abet or countenance
this aggravated iniquity ?

We

\

[ 43 ]

We have a memorable Inftance in hiftory,
which may be fruitful of Inftrudtion, if
timely and properly applied ; it is a quotation
made by Sir John Ee?nple, in his hi (lory of the
Irijh rebellion, being an obfervation out of
Giraldus Camhrenfis, a noted author, who
lived about fix hundred years ago, concerning
the caufes of the profperity of the Engli%
undertakings in Ireland , when they conquered
that Illand, he faith, ‘ That a fynod, or
4 council of the Clergy, being then alTembied
4 at Armagh, and that point fully debated, it
4 was unanimoufly agreed, that the fins of
4 the people were the occaiion of that heavy
4 judgment then fallen upon their nation ; and
4 that efpecially their buying of Englifhmen
4 from merchants and pirates, and detaining
4 them under a moil miferable hard bondage,

4 had caufed the Lord, by way of juft retail—

4 ation, to leave them to be reduced, by
4 the Engli/h , to the fame ftate of tlavery.
4 Whereupon they made a public adt in that
4 council, that all the Engl/%, held in capti-
? vity throughout the whole land, fhould be
4 prefently reftored to their former Liberty.’

I

I fliall now conclude with an extra dt from
an addrefs of a late author to the merchants,
and others, who are concerned in carrying on
the Guiney Trade ; which alio, in a great
meafure, is applicable to others, who, for

F 2 tlie

[ 44 ]

the love of gain, are in any way concerned
in promoting or maintaining the captivity of
the Negroes.

* As the bufinefs, you are publickly carrying

* on before the world, has a bad afpeft, and
you are fenfible mod men make objedtion
againft it, you ought to juftify it to the

1 world, upon principles of reafon, equity
and humanity; to make it appear, that it is
c no unjuft invafion of the perfons, or en¬
croachments on the rights of men ; or for
c ever to lay it afide. — But laying afide the
relentment of men, which is but of little or

* no moment, in companion with that of
4 the Almighty, think of a future reckon¬
ing : conlider how you fhall come off in
the great and awful Day of accompt. You
now heap up riches and live in pleafure;

‘ but, oh ! what will you do in the end
thereof? and that is not far off: what, if

* dearh fhould feize upon you, and hurry you

* out of this world, under all that load of
blood-guiltinefs, that now lies upon your

‘ fouls? The go fpel exprefly declares, that
thieves and murderers fhall not inherit the
kingdom or God. Conlider, that at the
‘ lame time, and by the fame means, you
‘ now trealure up worldly riches, you are
‘ feafuring up to yourlelves wrath, again ft
‘ the day of wrath, and vengeance that fhall

‘ come

[ 45 3

4 come upon the workers of iniquity, unlefe
4 prevented by a timely repentance.

« And what greater iniquity, what crime
‘ that is more henious, that carries in it more
‘ complicated guilt, can you name than that,

‘ in the habitual, deliberate pradtice of which
4 you now live ? How can you lift up your
4 guilty eyes to heaven ? How can you pray
‘ for mercy to him that made you, or hope

* for any favour from him that formed you,

* while you go on thus grofly and openly to
4 difhonour him, in debating and deftroying

* the nobleft workmanfhip of his hands in
4 this lower world ? He is the Father of men ;

* and do you think he will not refent fuch

* treatment of his offspring, whom he hath fo

* loved, as to give his only begotten Son, that
4 whofoever believeth in him, might not perifh,
‘ but have everlafting life? This love of God
‘ to man, revealed in the gofpel, is a great

* aggravation of your guilt ; for if God fo
‘ loved us, we ought alfo to love one another.
‘ You remember the fate of the Servant , who
<■ took hold of his fellow- fervantt who was in his
£ debt , by the throat, and ca/l him into prifon :

* Think then, and tremble to think, what
‘ will be your fate, who take your fellow-
c fervants by the throat, that owe you not a

4 penny, and make them prifoners for life.

/

4 Give

r

l 46 ] <3^SC

* yourfelves leave to reflect impartially
upon, and confider the nature of, this Man-
Trade, which, if you do, your hearts mu ft
- needs relent, if you have not loft all fenfe

* of humanity, all pity and companion to¬
wards thofe of your own kind, to think

* what calamities, what havock and deftruc-

* tion among them, you have been the authors

* of, for filthy lucre’s fake. God grant you

1 may be fenfible of your guilt, and repent in
‘ time. r

FINIS.